Music streaming service Spotify says its active monthly user base had grown to 100 million, with some 30 million paying listeners.

Founded in 2006, it’s now the world’s leading music streaming service, with almost three times more listeners than its closest rival, Apple Music. In fact, Spotify has more users than the five largest competitors combined.

Reuters said that the Swedish firm pays more than 80 percent of its revenue to record labels and artists and has not yet shown a profit as it spends to grow internationally. Last year, it made an operating loss of 184.5 million euros ($209 million), widening from 165.1 million in 2014.

Concern is raising over two Swedes who, independently of each other, have been detained in China on unclear accusations.

Jerusalem has rejected comments by Sweden’s foreign minister Margot Wallström as “irresponsible and delusional,” and claims that she encourages terrorism.

The reaction came after Wallström on Tuesday called for an investigation to determine if Israel was guilty of extrajudicial killings of Palestinians during the recent wave of violence.

"It is vital that there is a thorough, credible investigation into these deaths in order to clarify and bring about possible accountability," Wallstrom said during a parliamentary debate, according to news agency TT .

Israel’s Foreign Ministry fired back in a statement later in the day, calling Wallstom’s comments “irresponsible and delusional,” and claiming they served to “encourage violence and terrorism.”

Sweden recognized the state of Palestine on October 30, 2014, a move that was widely criticized by Israel.

Volvo Car Group, owned by China’s Geely, said on Friday it sold a record 503,127 cars last year, up 8 percent from the previous year.

"Now, with a successful 2015 behind us, Volvo is about to enter the second phase of its global transformation," Volvo Car Group Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement.

"Once completed, Volvo will have ceased being a minor automotive player and taken its position as a truly global premium car company."

For 2016 Geely Auto is aiming for a sales increase of 18% to 600,000 units which will be achieved by further strengthening the brand, introduction of several new key models, including SUV's, Crossovers and sedans and strengthening domestic and international sales networks, it said.

Sales were boosted by demand for its new flagship XC90 SUV model and strong growth in the United States and Europe.

Sweden’s Riksbank said it has decided to hold its key rate at a super-low minus 0.35 percent, as developments in the economy had been “somewhat stronger than expected”.

It was a cheerful note that kicked the krona higher.

The Riksbank also highlighted that a growing number of immigrants will support economic activity.

“The sharp increase in the number of asylum seekers coming to Sweden is expected to lead to an increase in public expenditure, which will contribute to higher GDP growth and lower unemployment in the coming years”, it said.

Sweden has long been Europe's top destination for asylum seekers per capita, with a record 190,000 applications expected this year.

However, growing segregation is emerging as a major concern in the country. About half of all refugees in Sweden are unemployed after seven years and only 60 percent find work after 15 years, according to Statistics Sweden.

The Stockholm-Uppsala region is famous for its advanced life science sector. GE Healthcare, which is a unit of General Electric, has announced plans to invest $100 million to expand its facilities in Uppsala, a city in the Stockholm region.

When Amazon Web Services (AWS) first launched its cloud-computing platform a decade ago, Swedish companies were among the quickest to adopt the service. Today, many of Stockholm’s most successful tech companies base their businesses on Amazon’s cloud web facilities.